


Jim

by raging_storm (orphan_account)



Series: Storm's Old Stuff [1]
Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Dog - Freeform, F/M, Jealous Tyler Joseph, Jealousy, Josh gets a dog, Sad, hm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 06:42:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12835497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/raging_storm
Summary: Josh gets a dog named Jim.Tyler doesn't know what to make of that.[Inspired by Josh's new dog, Jim.]





	Jim

When Josh brings home the dog, Tyler can't help but squeal at the sight of it. He isn't a squealing type of guy, but the sight of that ball of yellow fur is too much for him to handle. His face lights up, and he slides off the couch, petting it and scratching its ears. "What kind of dog is it?" he asks Josh. 

Josh looks proud of himself. Leash fisted in one hand, adoption papers in the other, he smiles. "Jim," he says. "He's a golden retriever. 

Jim. What a fitting name.

"You're so adorable," Tyler tells the dog, patting its head. Jim's fur is soft. He has a red collar around his neck, with a card on it. It reads  _Jim Dun_ , and under that are the letters ESA.

Tyler wants to hug the dog and never let go. "He better not be replacing me," he jokes.

Josh smiles again. "Of course not. But you're one of two best friends now." It's said jokingly. It's meant jokingly. But Tyler's smile falters slightly and he takes his hand away from the dog. It licks his face, keening slightly at the loss of Tyler's hand.

"Look, he likes you, man," Josh tells Tyler. 

Tyler hauls himself back up onto the couch. "I like him, too," he says.

Josh spends the rest of the night texting his friends pictures of his new dog. Jordan comes over at one point and posts a selfie of himself and Jim, which blows up faster than a nuclear bomb on Instagram. Tyler sits on the couch, knees tucked up to his chest,  headphones in his ears. He watches. 

Jim frolics around the living room, chewing on an old tennis ball Josh found in the garage, and playfully swiping at Jordan.

"We need to get him house trained," Josh says to no one in particular as Jim scratches a chair leg by accident. 

Tyler's phone is blowing up. The Clique is digging the newest Dun family member. 

_dj spooky jim???_

_The next member of twenty one pilots? Lol_

_Tyler better watch out. There's a new best fren in town._

He quietly excuses himself and goes upstairs to bed.

-

No one asks why Tyler left early. They assumed he was tired, he needed his rest, and they didn't bother him. While he did need his rest, he sleep horribly, tossing and turning and brewing over the thought that he might very well be upstarted by a dog. Jim's face flashes in front of his mind all night, his cute, golden face. He pictures Josh's face, too, and how happy it looked when he brought the puppy home. And while Tyler knows in his heart he wants Josh to be happy, he can't help but feel jealous of Jim. And the Clique certainly isn't helping, with all their posts about how Jim is Josh's new best friend. 

When he goes downstairs, Jenna has arrived, and she's ogling the new dog as well.

"He's so cute!" she exclaims. Hands on her knees, she bends over the dog. He wags his tail and licks her hand when she extends it. 

"She likes you, Jen," Josh says, from the couch. In the kitchen, Jordan is making eggs for the group. 

"He likes me more," Tyler says as he comes down the stairs, and everyone turns. 

"Ty," Jenna says, happy to see her husband.

Tyler kisses her on the cheek. "Hey."

"You've seen the new dog, right?"

"Yep."  _That dog is going to steal my best friend._

He knows he's acting stupid. He knows he's being irrational. He's cranky and tired from working on the new album's production, and it isn't Josh’s fault he wants a dog. What Josh does is his own business. 

He hates it.

Josh is too busy on his hands and knees playing tug of war with a piece of rope with Jim to notice Tyler. It's only when Tyler pokes Josh a little too hard that he looks up. 

"Hey, man. Sleep well?"

"Yeah."  _No._

"Sweet. You wanna walk the dog with me, Tyler?"

It's all Tyler can do to constrain his fury. "Actually, I have some work to do-"

"Tyler," Jenna interrupts. "You said it yourself- you're on break. You just woke up. Go walk the dog with your best friend."

_That's right. He's my best friend. The dog is only a usurper._

"I'm good. Thanks."

If Josh notices Tyler's distant attitude, he doesn't comment. Instead he smiles at Jim and jingles a leash. "Come on, boy, let's go for a walk."

Jenna puts her hand on Tyler's shoulder. "I know what you're thinking," she says, "and you're being paranoid."

Tyler opens his mouth to reply, but at that moment the smoke alarm goes off, and the household can hear Jordan's yells from the kitchen accentuated with the smell of burning eggs.

Jenna just sighs and goes to help him. As the only resident cook here, she knows what to do. "This is what happens when I let them make something as simple as scrambled eggs," she mutters as she marches to the kitchen.

Tyler shoves his hands in his hoodie pockets and watches Josh go out the front door with Jim dancing on the leash. He's not sure, but he swears Jim shoots him a triumphant look as he's pulled outside into the cold November air.

-

They're playing video games on the couch after breakfast. Finally, some quality "bro time" that doesn't include one golden retriever. Jenna is taking a nap, Jordan went home, and they can finally play some Mario Kart on the Wii by themselves. 

Josh's tongue pokes through his teeth as he mashes his controller. The Wii game may be ancient, but Josh considers it a classic, and he plays it with a fervor. It isn't enough to beat Tyler, though. This is Tyler's game.

"I can't ever beat you," Josh shouts, and drops his controller on the floor as Tyler crosses the finish line, five places ahead of Josh.

"And you never will," Tyler says, punching the air with his fist.

Josh shakes his head and chooses the next track. 

Bowser's Castle 2 is the track Josh is supposedly the best at, but after four minutes of silence, and the only sound being buttons on the controller being pressed, Tyler pulls another win.

"I'm done," Josh says, shaking his head. But he's smiling. "You somehow manage to beat me everytime. You probably no-life this game when I'm not here."

"You got me." Tyler yawns, putting down his own controller. On the screen the characters zoom around the track in a victory lap. He considers following Jenna and taking a nap as well.

"I'm gonna take Jim for another walk. You wanna come this time?" 

And Tyler freezes mid-yawn and turns his gaze ruefully onto the yellow pup that's standing by the front door.

"Um," he says, but Josh cuts right over him.

"Please?" he says, flashing Tyler a pleading look. Tyler can't say no to that. His resolve weakens. He sighs. 

"Sure, man," he says. "Let me just go get a coat."

Ten minutes later he finds himself in the freezing cold, waiting for a dog to pee.

"I'm doing this for Josh," Tyler growls at the dog, watching his own breath steam in front of his face. 

Josh doesn't hear him. The dog purposefully ignores him. Tyler huffs.

-

Josh is spending every waking moment with Jim. Jim sleeps in Josh's room, sits at josh's feet at the table, sits next to Josh on the couch when they watch TV. And while Tyler doesn't appreciate the dog sitting on the couch next to him, he can't deny Josh, who looks so happy with himself.

Tyler is getting pushed out. Josh spends less time with him, and more time with Jim. So Tyler flees into the deep recesses of his social media, where the posts there make him feel like throwing up. 

There are memes circulating about the dog, as he expected, but even worse are the theories. And while Tyler knows he should ignore them, they're probably bullshit, and just plain idiotic, he reads them, and his brain starts to slowly justify them.

_what if jim is just josh's excuse to ditch Ty??_

_guys...the dog is golden, and gold represents purity or goodness. What if the dog is the start of a new era? What if it's replacing Blurryface? And what if that means it's replacing Tyler?_

Theories like that are stupid, but make him sick. He's already thrown up once.

What if they're true?

He has to know what's going on.

-

Tyler tests Josh. Every moment he gets, he drops a query about their friendship. But Josh either is catching onto Tyler, who's not the most subtle guy in the world, or he's just really good at not caring.

"What if I got a new best friend?" Tyler asked over dinner. Jenna's eyes lasered into the back of his head, but he ignored her and looked straight at Josh.

Josh shrugged. Where once he might have been outraged, now he just shrugged. He fed Jim a piece of chicken right off his plate.

"Hey, Josh, what would you do if I died?" Tyler asked another night. 

Josh looked at him strangely. "Tyler, what do you mean?"

"What if I just...cease to exist one day, or something?"

That got Josh’s attention. Tyler felt a spurt of satisfaction as he looked away from Jim to stare Tyler right in the eye. "Are you...are you thinking about..."

"Yes," Tyler said without thinking, and immediately regretted it.

Josh makes him go spill everything to Jenna, all the while trying to talk him out of whatever bad thoughts he has in his head. Jenna listens patiently, goes through the motions of comforting her husband, but that night as they get ready for bed, she says it.

"Ty, are you jealous of Josh's dog?" She drops the question suddenly, as Tyler brushes his teeth. The toothbrush almost goes down his throat as he sputters.

"What?" he says, spitting toothpaste into the sink, affronted look affixed to his face. "No!"

Skepticism is wrought all over Jenna's features. "Are you sure?"

"Of course not. You think I'm jealous of a dog?"

"That's exactly what I think."

Tyler tries to adopt a disdainful expression, fails. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it, though? You and Josh have been friends for a long time. I can understand how upsetting it is to feel like you're being pushed out."

"I don't feel that way," Tyler says, but the snakes writhing in his gut suggest otherwise. He feels ill again. 

Jenna hugs him hard. "You're lying," she says into his ear. "But maybe you should tell Josh how you feel."

"Oh, like that conversation will go well. 'Hi, Josh, I'm jealous of your dog because I'm afraid you'll stop being friends with me in favor of it!'" The confession bursts out of him before he can stop it, and he immediately wishes he hadn't said that. 

"I didn't mean that," Tyler says. "I just-"

Jenna lets go of him. "I know," she says, getting into bed. "But Josh is your best friend. He'll want to know how you feel, Tyler." She pulls the covers over her head. "Goodnight." 

The lights go off, and Tyler's left standing in the dark. 

-

"Josh, I have something to tell you." Sheepish expression on his face, Tyler scrapes his foot on the carpet, anxiety building in his chest. Behind him, Jenna watches like a hawk, but keeps her distance respectfully.

"What is it?"

Tyler can't look at Josh, so he looks at his feet instead. "I'm, uh..."

Josh assumes a confused expression, but he watches Tyler intently, waiting for him to spill whatever's on his mind.

Tyler's in full-blown panic-mode. He can't do this. He can't stand here and tell his best friend he hates his dog, not when said best friend loves said dog with all his heart. Choking on his own spit, he turns to flee, but finds Jenna barring his way. "Tyler," she says warningly, and all the while Josh just looks at both of them like they're crazy.

"I can't do it," Tyler says. He looks at her pleadingly. "Please get out of the way."

"Nope." Jenna crosses her arms.

"Am I missing something here?" Josh asks. 

When Tyler clamps his mouth shut and locks his jaw, Jenna sighs. Shoving at his shoulders to get him to face Josh, she sighs. "Tyler's jealous of your dog."

If Tyler could sink through the floor and die, he'd be okay with that.

A full five seconds passes before Josh bursts out laughing. "What?" he says. Smiling, he's smiling and showing all of his blinding white teeth, and Tyler dies inside.

"Tyler. Is. Jealous of your dog," Jenna repeats slowly, leaving no doubt that that's what came out of her mouth.

Josh shakes his head, teeth still showing. "Really? What do you mean?"

Jenna's eyes shoot sparks. "I did the first bit. Now  _you_ tell him what's going on, Tyler."

Tyler clears his throat, face bright red. "I-I-"

"You're jealous of my dog?" Josh is giggling. He looks down at Jim, scratches his ears. "You hear that, boy? Ty's jealous of you." The dog barks.

"It isn't funny!" The words burst out of Tyler's mouth, angry and sudden.

The smile melts off Josh's face. "What do you mean?"

There's a lump in Tyler's throat. Tears prick at the corners of his eyes. "Yeah, I'm jealous of your dog," he spits. "Happy?"

"Why would I be happy?" Josh says, looking hurt. "I-I don't know what you mean by that."

"You spend more time with Jim than with me. I feel like you're abandoning me. There's theories on tumblr-"

"You know those are stupid, Ty."

"-and people are saying stuff about the dog being a part of twenty one pilots-"

"What's Jim going to do, take my place as a drummer? Unless he's suddenly become a bundle of talents, I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon." Josh laughs again, long and loud. "Ty, this whole thing is ridiculous."

That's the wrong thing to say. Before the tears can fall, Tyler pushes his way past a shocked Jenna and runs towards the stairwell. Josh shouts his name, but Tyler ignores him. He takes the stairs three at a time, hurling himself down the hallway, locking himself in the bathroom.

He knows he's being stupid. He knows he's being irrational.

He hates himself.

Jenna pounds on the door and tells him to come out. He shouts at her to go away. Josh does the same thing. Tyler might come out for him, but he can hear the dog whining next to Josh, so he steels himself and hunches on the toilet seat, head in his hands, refusing to acknowledge that he's there. Eventually he leaves, taking Jim with him.

The tears come then, silently tracking down his face, dripping onto his shoes. He's  _such_ an idiot. He's ruined everything. If he wasn't a dramatic, selfish piece of shit this never would have happened. Is he twenty-eight or five? Only a five-year-old would throw a temper tantrum like this.

These thoughts circulate in his brain until eventually his body gives up, and he leans against the wall, falling asleep with his head on the rim of the bathtub.

 

"Tyler? You still in there?" Quiet knocks on the door rouse Tyler from his sleep.

There are still dried tears on his face, but he wipes them away with his hoodie sleeve. It's dark outside. What time is it?

He sniffs. "Yeah."

"It's me. Josh."

Tyler pushes himself to his feet, crossing the floor and throwing open the door. He's faced with his best friend, who has a worried expression on his face. His eyes hurt, and he wipes them again.

"We're worried about you, Ty," Josh says. "This business about the dog-"

"Forget it. I was being stupid. It doesn't matter."

"It does," Josh insists. "And I just want to say, you don't have to be jealous of the dog. We're gonna be best friends forever, Tyler, and I didn't think I'd ever have to tell you that."

And Tyler cries again, because he knows he's been a selfish jerk. Josh holds him and lets him cry, and when he's all done, he takes Tyler downstairs.

Jenna meets them in the living room, taking in the sight of them with one tired eye. "Did you figure it out?" she asks, legs sprawled on the couch, one hand poised over the pause button on the remote.

"Not yet. I have to show Tyler something."

Jim sits in the front hall where he likes it, wagging his tail at the sight of Josh and Tyler. Josh leans down and pets the dog slowly, whispering something Tyler can't hear to him.

"Josh, what's-"

Josh says nothing, just takes Tyler's hand and pulls him down so he's kneeling at eye-level with Jim.

"What do you want me to see?"

Josh is silent as he reaches under Jim's chin to grab his collar and the card that's attached to it. He removes the card and shows Tyler.

Tyler's confused. "What is it?"

Josh points wordlessly to the card, tapping the plastic. "Read it," he says, and so Tyler does. His eyes scan down the card, from the miniature picture of Jim, to his full name, down to the three letters: ESA.

"ESA," Tyler whispers.

"Do you know what it means?" Josh asks. He's serious. He means it. There is no laughter now, no jokes. No smiles.

"No."

"It means...it means..." Now it's Josh who looks ill. He swallows hard, his hand shakes slightly, but he looks Tyler dead in the eye. "It means emotional support animal," he finishes.

The floor tilts, the air is sucked from Tyler's lungs, and he can't breathe. His eyes are fixated on the card in Josh's hand, and he feels tears spring to his eyes again. "Oh, God, Josh-"

It's Tyler's fault. His fault for being stupid, for being ignorant, for being selfish. For thinking he was the only one with the problems here.

"It's not your fault," Josh says softly. "You didn't know."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Tyler demands, putting one hand on the wall to steady himself. "Josh, I'm so sorry. I can't believe-" His chest heaves, and he grits his teeth to prevent more tears. He's overreacting, his world is spinning, and it's  _all his fault._

Jenna stands in the doorway, one hand on her mouth. "I didn't know," she says. "You're okay though, right, Josh?"

And Josh nods, one hand on Jim's head, the other reaching out to hold Tyler's. "Yeah," he says. "Jim is for my anxiety. But I've got my best friend to help me."

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this pretty fast, but since I had no ideas, this seemed like the perfect thing.
> 
> Inspired by Josh's getting a dog, obviously. Sadly, the dog does have the ESA thing, and I don't know what's up with that.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed.  
> -Storm


End file.
